Cuba restaurants struggle through power cuts

Cuban restaurants are struggling to keep serving customers as a US oil embargo, fuel shortages and long power cuts put pressure on businesses and diners in Havana.

Many shops, cafes and hotels have closed since January, when the United States imposed an oil embargo that deprived Cuba of fuel for power plants and vehicles. Some restaurant owners are trying to adapt with cheaper menus, substitute ingredients and reduced expectations as blackouts in the capital can last up to 30 hours.

Dainel Castillo, who once ran a restaurant for tourists arriving on cruise ships, has shifted toward Cuban customers after foreigners largely stopped visiting. He opened Jireh, a restaurant selling pork dough for 50 pesos, about 7 US cents, instead of dishes such as a 6,000-peso surf-and-turf mix, about $9 at the informal exchange rate and nearly the average monthly wage of $10.

Castillo said finding ingredients such as cooking oil can take several hours a day. One bottle costs 4,000 to 5,000 pesos, or $6 to $7, so he uses lard instead.

La Guarida, an upscale Havana restaurant known for its appearance in the 1993 Oscar-nominated movie “Strawberry and Chocolate,” is now nearly empty. Its owner, Enrique Nunez, said he would keep it open even if he was the only person coming to work.

Yosbel Leon, who tries to draw customers into Jireh, estimated that 90 percent of Cubans cannot afford to eat out. Several Havana residents described restaurant meals as a rare luxury.